


Losing Colors

by Your Mutant Girlfriend (ScrapyardKid)



Series: Mutamorphosis AU [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Botanist!Dipper, Chemist!Dipper, Dystopian Future, Dystopian society, Gen, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Miner!Mabel, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Not the fandom version though!, Science Fiction & Fantasy, This series will have A LOT of it, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-28 21:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8462878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrapyardKid/pseuds/Your%20Mutant%20Girlfriend
Summary: When bad things happened, Dipper's world would visually distort around him, dulling the colors he loved so much. It came and went in long stretches of time. But after that dreadful event, it seemed as if his colors would remain dull for a very long time.Updated with cover art and some corrections :)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hai thar. This is my first stint at fanfiction, so I apologize for any mistakes! This is a prologue to a multi-chapter story I'm planning. I wanted to get it out first as a kind of warm-up to see what my story writing looks like, and to give a sneak peek into what the world of the Mutamorphosis AU looks like. More info at the end for those interested, enjoy my horrid writing! xDDD

The world would sometimes lose color.

 

Not literally, but Dipper Pines liked to describe the unpleasant visual distortion he experienced with those words.

 

The village of Gravity wasn’t necessarily the best place to live. Hardly any places were after the events of The Great Collapse. However, no one could deny the breathtaking beauty of the wilderness that surrounded the village, which had mysteriously remained untouched from the after effects of worldwide devastation.

 

Spring and summer brought forth rich shades of emerald in abundant moss and woody plants, flowers popping up in every color discernable to the human eye. Fall would greet the town with mild winds carrying dying leaves in hues of burgundy and gold; a dazzling spectrum of warm oranges and browns in different gourds ready for harvest. Even winter, which Dipper hated, came with its own lovely color palette. Reds, rich browns and dark greens from the holiday decor the townspeople would put up. The trees that were evergreen appeared a darker shade, and would be adorned on and off with the crisp white from seasonal snowfall.

 

Dipper loved the outdoors, and was especially receptive to the colors and scents which surrounded him. The bizarre periods of dulling colors started to show up around the age of 10, and quickly became an addition to his steadily growing list of fears. Being the ardent reader that he was, he began to search for answers in every material he could get his hands on. Living in a rural village came with the disadvantage of not having the greatest access or selection of educational material. He considered himself lucky to be born into a family line which kept and still valued the art of reading, their collection of texts growing with every new Pines generation that came.

 

Whenever traveling merchants passed by the village in one of their rare visits, Dipper would immediately seek them out regardless of what he had to do that day. He would purchase or barter for all the texts they carried, heading home afterwards to read until his sister or parents came by his room to scold him for staying up too late.  
His possible answer came along on one of their visiting days. His haul this time had included a thick psychology textbook in fair condition; from what he could tell, around high school level. He would have preferred something college level, but textbooks were rare to come by period, so he wasn’t complaining.

 

Depression. More specifically, on and off depressive episodes, he hypothesized were the cause of these long stretches of time where his mind perceived the world in dulled colors.

 

While he knew from his readings that a psychologist would be able to give him an accurate answer, people of the profession were not found in the country, only in the cities and large settlements. Since he knew his family didn’t have the resources to even consider a short trip outside the village, he settled for his hopefully correct self-diagnosis.

 

The list of symptoms fit, and made sense since he had always been of a melancholic temperament, contrasting his twin sister’s sanguine one. Whenever bad things happened to them, Mabel was the eternal optimist who marched on, who could bounce back from things in a short period of time. Dipper was the one who would put up the illusion of moving on unbothered, but would be hurting beneath the facade for a long time after whatever had happened passed.

 

He would over think things,would linger on the should haves and could haves. He had developed an adult level of fear and distrust of others at a young age. It made his already shy, reserved nature even more prominent, and a choice target for the bigger kids to bully. Whenever the colors dulled it was always terrible, but even then, though the episodes were long they eventually would let up.

 

But after what was done to their family...he feared the colors might remain dull for the rest of his life.

 

\-----------------------------

 

**Year 53 A.G.C.//C.E. equivalent ????**

 

The sound of shattering glass was what woke him.

 

Dipper felt the tell-tale signs of epinephrine flooding his system, and with little thought immediately launched himself off his bed to investigate.

 

Opening the door to his room, he found his twin sister already there waiting for him. With a worried expression, she was began to say something but was quickly cut off by a scream and gurgling from downstairs. The two pairs of eyes widened, and with a silent exchange of nods, they crouched silently to the large trunk kept in the hallway. Opening it up to reveal an assortment of tools, Dipper grabbed his sickle, Mabel her mining shovel. They padded over to the opening of the staircase and held position, waiting for whomever was downstairs to make their next move.

 

For the next few minutes, all that was was heard clacking footsteps on wood, sounds of metal scraping against metal, the front door creaking open, footsteps fading away, then finally silence following the door slamming shut.

 

Waiting until she was sure the unwanted visitors had left, Mabel gently pushed past Dipper and glanced back at him, silently asking if he was okay with her leading.

 

Although fiercely protective of his sister, he couldn’t deny that she was the physically stronger of the two. She took after their mother being a natural at mining, her body already showing the tell-tale beginnings of a powerful physique. Dipper’s talents instead lied in his mental capabilities, taking after their father being adept at botany and chemistry.

 

The twins saw nothing wrong with their dynamic, but most of the townsfolk didn’t agree. He was a prime target for bullies as they assumed him to be weak and inferior because of his interests. As such, he begrudgingly had to admit that letting his sister take charge so often made him grumpy and self-conscious, but what bullies thought of him was the last thing on mind currently.

 

He nodded back at her, took her free hand in his, and gave a light squeeze of reassurance. She took a deep breath, gripping the mining shovel tightly, and slowly led them downstairs.

 

\-----------------------------

 

**“Ω”**

 

A capital omega mocked them from the living room, crudely painted on the family portrait hanging above the fireplace. The first rays of morning sun peeped through the blinds. It cast a faint light on what appeared to be their parents, lying unmoving, face down in front of the dying embers left from the fire kept lit for winter nights. Visual confirmation was impossible in the poor lighting, but the symbol and sharp smell of something metallic already told Dipper and Mabel everything they needed to know about what had just transpired moments earlier.

 

 _“Oh, God! Mom, Dad!”_ his sister’s voice rang out through the house. Dipper was too horrified to speak.

 

They both simultaneously dropped their tools, ready to rush to their parents’ side, until Mabel suddenly stuck out an arm to stop him, appearing to have a change in thought.

 

“Wait. We need to get Wendy and Soos. I almost forgot...crap! If this means what I think it does, we’re not allowed to go near their bodies.” she told Dipper. His eyes widened in realization, and he gripped her hand tighter.

 

She gave a squeeze back, and shuffled her feet around anxiously before she turned to look at him.

 

“You run much faster than I do, are you up for rounding those two up while I hold down fort?”

 

He nodded silently, still finding himself unable to speak. He broke their hold and made his way to the entrance, haphazardly shoving himself into a winter jacket hanging from the coat rack near the door. With a sudden burst of energy, he nearly tore the front door off its hinges as he bolted outside in the direction of his friends’ houses.

 

Thankfully few were awake at this hour, so he was able to zip through the town easily at top speed, arriving at Wendy’s in minutes. His nerves caused what he had meant to be knocks to come out as loud bangs on her front door.

 

Dipper heard muted shuffling behind the wooden door, and as he waited he began his usual internal monologue for when things went to absolute shit.

 

 _I’m a machine._ He thought. _I’m a machine. I can cry later. Mabel needs me right now. I can break down later._

 

The door opened up to reveal a red-headed teen wearing flannel pajamas, glaring daggers at him through bleary eyes.

 

“Dude what gives? The sun’s barely up, I thought we were going out to explore at noon?”

 

“Someone targeted us for a downrank.” he blurted out. “There’s an omega symbol painted on our family portrait, a-and I think mom and dad are dead.”

 

Her face paled, expression swiftling turning alert She turned around and walked out of Dipper’s sight without a word. A few moments later, she came back wearing her heavy hunter boots and jacket over her pajamas, as well as her father’s shotgun strapped to her back.

 

“Let’s go. Left the old man a note so we don’t have to worry about him tearing apart the town to look for me.” she said, following with a forced chuckle as she shut the door behind her. “I’m assuming we’re getting Soos too?”

 

Dipper gave her a nod, and without hesitation they both sprinted toward their older friend’s home. When they both reached the front of the house, Dipper banged on the door in a similar manner as he did earlier at Wendy’s. A few moments later a heavy set man somewhere in his early twenties answered the door, sleepy expression on his face, but unlike the redheaded teen there was no trace of irritation on it.

 

“Hey dudes, what’s up? Are you here for some early morning outdoor exploration? Not that I have a problem with it, but I thought you guys weren’t morning people.” he said with a short laugh.

 

“We need to head to Dipper’s. Someone targeted their family for a downranking.” Wendy said with a tight expression.

 

Soos perked up, eyes wide in horror. He shot Dipper a worried look, then stepped out of view. Like Wendy back at her house, he came back a few moments later wearing heavy boots and a coat, a shovel slung over one shoulder. He shut the door behind him, and the three quickly made their way back to the twins’ house, Dipper’s internal mantra still repeating inside his head.

 

_I’m a machine._

 

 _I can cry later._  
_I can cry later._  
_I can cry later._  
\-----------------------------

 

The origins of Gravity were murky, and remained mostly unknown.

 

While many of the adults in the village had been there for the founding, they refused to divulge information on the subject with no reason given as to why. Dipper did manage to piece together some of the story as he grew up-courtesy of nighttime sneaking around bars with Wendy, eavesdropping on the more truthful conversations drunken adults tended to have.

 

The town’s founders were a group of Great Collapse survivors who adhered to the idea of “survival of the fittest”. They believed humanity’s downfall was caused by a society which had strayed too far from its primal roots and allowed the weak to water down the gene pool.

 

Because of that, the founders chose to model village life loosely after the Alpha, Beta, and Omega social hierarchy found in wolves and other pack animals. Besides that, Dipper hadn’t found much else. He really wished the backwards customs the town had would have fallen into historical oblivion as well, but sadly it seemed that each new generation was more dogmatic than the one before it.

 

What had just happened to their family was a downranking, one of the more heinous village customs. Ranks weren’t set in stone; a family could go up in rank if they proved their strength or go down in rank if they were targeted and were unable to reassert their dominance.

 

Normally, to rise in rank taking out one family member was enough. Whomever had targeted the Pines family was seeking more than just to rise in rank- they were looking for membership into the Alpha Council, the small group of alpha families who acted as the ruling government body in the town.

 

In order to gain entrance to the Alpha Council, the family targeted would have to be reduced to Omega rank. It was difficult to do so as it required certain prerequisites to be met. The Omega rank could only be filled by one family at a time, and said family had to be deemed completely unable to challenge back. The Pines family were a perfect candidate, as Dipper and Mabel were were the only ones left now, both young and not strong enough to challenge the downranking.

 

What left Dipper stumped was just _who_ had targeted them. The Pines family was well liked throughout the village, even if most would not readily admit so out loud. They had no enemies as far as he knew. His father had saved many lives with his knowledge, providing Gravity with medicine and chemicals used for defense. His mother had discovered a wealth of copper and lead reserves which served to make the town immensely prosperous.

 

The twins would certainly be continuing their parents’ work, but only several years down the line when they were fully trained. Their new rank also meant they would be assigned one of the undesirable Omega jobs, which would cut into the time spent providing services to the village.

 

...if they even ended up staying in Gravity that long. The Omega family was treated as the village punching bag, and had to adhere to a bizarre set of rules that made life miserable for those in the rank.

 

It was so bad that the Omega family had a special right to self-exile, no questions asked. Most took to self-exile within 2-3 years. All in all, whomever did this must have wanted Alpha Council membership pretty badly to take away two of the most important members of their village.

 

\-----------------------------

 

There was no time for grieving; the four of them had to work quickly.

 

Following village custom, the older pair took charge of preparing the bodies for burial, while the siblings were in charge of digging the graves in a plot of land assigned to their family in the cemetery. Mabel finished digging first and Dipper didn’t complain when she came over to help him out.

 

The graves were dug out by early evening. The two then parted ways so they could work on making their Send-Off; an item to be buried with the deceased, a symbolic final goodbye. With their new rank that is the only closure they would get, as once Wendy and Soos finished, they would not be allowed anywhere near the bodies of their parents again without facing harsh punishment.

 

Dipper and Mabel met back at their house once their Send-Offs were ready. The eldest had made matching necklaces from precious stones, the younger had woven winter flowers into crowns and bracelets. Misty eyed, they handed their items to Wendy, who in a rare show of affection enveloped them in a bear hug.

 

Night had fallen by the time the twins found themselves by Mabel’s window upstairs, watching as Wendy and Soos wheeled the wooden caskets down the road. Dipper was the first to settle into Mabel’s bed without a word. He knew both of them would be unable to sleep alone tonight, or for a while for that matter.

 

He felt his sister crawl into bed a few minutes later, her face already streaked with tears that she had been holding back the entire day.

 

“Dipper?” she whispered into the silent room.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m scared. They’re going to brand us once this is announced, and it’s supposed to really hurt. Wendy and Soos won’t be able to be friendly with us in public. I don’t want everyone to be mean to us, but I also don’t want to leave. Where would we even go?”

 

He frowned at her words, and held one of her hands in his.

 

“I know Mabel, I’m scared too. But we have to try and keep Mom and Dad’s work going, for their sake. Wendy and Soos will only have to act that way in public, no one can say anything when we’re out of sight. And even if the whole village is against us, we’ll still have each other.” He said, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

 

She nodded hesitantly. “Hey Dipper?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“There’s no one else here y’know. It’s okay to cry now.”

 

Something in Dipper snapped at those words, and a pained sob wrenched its way out of his throat. Everything that had happened today, the aches in his body, it all came crashing down at once. Mabel wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back as he sobbed into her chest. Eventually, the cries from both twins quieted down to the even breathing of sleep.

 

He woke that morning to the sounds of Mabel rummaging around downstairs, his nose picking up the scent of bacon. He took a glance around the room and noticed in despair that the colors around him had already become muted. Mabel’s brightly colored room appeared as dull as an overcast sky.

 

He wondered how long it would last this time.

 

The agonizing ache in his chest told him this time, it might be permanent.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based on what I've now christened as the "Mutamorphosis AU", a world which began building itself in my head after a day where I had played a ton of Fallout 4 and re-read some of my favorite sci-fi classics. There are SO MANY things which inspired it; currently I have 12+ pages of worldbuilding notes, and at least half of them are just research notes on a wide variety of topics which will be applied to this series. 
> 
> As cool as sirens and college AUs are, I noticed a severe lack of dark sci-fi in the billdip tag, which is just not okay! And since it's NaNoWriMo I was like, fuck it, if no one's gonna do it than I'll write the damn thing myself! xD
> 
> Some stuff like the ship tags aren't relevant yet, but will be in the main story. I'm trying to desperately hold back on tagging, because I think a lot of them would spoil the story. Two things I will say: This will NOT be just a stick and stones dystopian setting, there is WAYYY more to it than that. Two, magic and the supernatural will be present, but they will be explored and treated kind of like an unexplored science. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading this mess, critique is welcome :D You can find me on Tumblr as your-mutant-girlfriend, my account is mostly barren but eventually I'll post art for the series and fanart in general when I get off my lazy ass.


End file.
